I am still waiting for MySQL 5.0 to be released before I actually move my data over to PostgreSQL. The reason is the simple fact that PostgreSQL has the advanced features I want and MySQL has implemented a few in its recent 4.1 release, but it just left me wanting more. When 5.0 is released I will evaluate it to see if it fits my needs and has the features and the speed that I want. If it doesn’t then I will be making a switch to PostgreSQL.

My reluctance to switch is the overwhelming use of MySQL on most hosts and by a lot of small/medium application developers. With 4.1 I am able to implement a true relational database with foreign keys and CASCADE statements, I just want more…

I have been looking for a few more blogs to add to my list of daily reading and I’ve compiled a list of the new sites that are now in my bookmarks folder.

• Lunar Adventures – A great blog by fellow Texan Andrew Kaufmann.
• DonnieJeter.com – A simplistic but interesting blog by moleskine addict Donnie Jeter.
• JohnZeratsky.com – A great read for designers. John and I have had a few conversations about an easy to use centralized calendar application.
• NicholasJon.com – I really like the look of this blog and the content is great.

I am always looking for new reading material. Any suggestions? E-mail me! s [at] badice dot com.

After receiving an early release of this dual disc album, I must say that I am thoroughly impressed that the Foo Fighters and Dave Grohl in particular have kept the same sound with a few added twists.

The first surprise is that the album is dual disc. There are twenty songs, making it a true rock album worth the money. None of that eleven song crap… I don’t really need to talk about song quality or type, if you’ve heard the single then you’ve heard the jist of the album. There are a few songs thrown about that spice it up and a few that slow down the album but all in all it flows wonderfully.

The album will be released June 14, get your copy reserved on Amazon!

After reading about Ronald McDonald being made into a fitness guru I’ve decided that McDonald’s should just shut their doors and never reopen. The line that caught my eye was that there are no hamburgers or fries in the new commercials. What?! How can you forget your main business? Your job is not to make people healthy, it’s to be there to sell hamburgers and french fries to the hungry.

Maybe what we need to do is have a limit on how much fast food people can eat. That way we can get rid of these ridiculous commercials… It is not the fact that people eat McDonald’s, it’s the fact that they eat it everyday. Or they eat it twice a day every other day.

Maybe all of the fast food joints should get together and start giving little counters out that after you’ve had fast food for 2 days a week you have to wait another week before you can get more. It’s all about moderation.

The beaches of Normandy were full of gun fire, scared soldiers, artillery, and blood on this morning 61 years ago. Operation Overlord began the night before on June 5th with special forces, paratroopers, and glider troops being dropped behind enemy lines to disrupt the German reinforcement of the beachheads.

The invasion was a huge success and the western front that Stalin had so desperately wanted was finally open.

As we slowly lose the veterans of World War II it is hard for us to understand the horrors that they faced that morning running through knee high water straight into enemy gunfire. To put it into perspective, the average age of a soldier on D-Day was 19. They would be 80 today. The average lifespan of an American is hovering around 76-78.

We are slowly losing what some have called the “greatest generation”.

Last week I was worried that Audioslave had gone soft. Maybe I was too quick to judge. I have spend some serious time listening to the album and a lot of the songs have a great sound with cool rifs and outros.

Tom Morello is an amazing force for Audioslave and proves himself in multiple tracks such as “Drown Me Slowly” and “Be Yourself”.

Give the album a chance. I was too quick to come to the conclusion that it was a soft album and not worthy of the Audioslave name. Listen to the tracks for about a week and you’ll be hooked.

Over the last few days I have received phone calls from a lot of old friends and I feel bad because usually I am at work and cannot stay on the phone too long.

I actually started making a list of people who have called me just so that I can remember to call them back. I hate it when people do not call me back so I really don’t want to be one of those people.

It just feels good to answer the phone and hear a voice you haven’t heard in months or years. E-mail can be a great communication tool but there’s nothing like hearing someone’s emotions and inflections. You learn a lot from the way a single word is or isn’t emphasized. So make a phone call today to someone you have not talked to in a long time. Just see how they are, what they’re up to, and what new things have happened since you last talked to them.

The bloated menus at fast food restaurants are starting to get to me. I have been off of the “fast stuff” for a few weeks now but today I just needed a fix.

I drove to the nearest McDonald’s, walked in, and started reading the menu. As I was getting ready to order I heard the woman in front of me substitute her fries for fruit and her soft drink for milk. What?! Last time I checked this was a fast food joint and healthy food was served somewhere else. I am sorry, but McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Chick-Fil-A are not places you go if you want a healthy meal. I know I don’t. I go for the grease; Plain and simple. That’s the point.

But that’s where we are at as a society. We feel that is the restaurant’s fault for making us an obese nation, a heart-attack nation. It’s not so. We choose to eat at these places even though we know the risk.

It reminds me of the cigarette problem. It’s not the smoker’s fault for getting emphysema, it’s Philip-Morris’. Don’t step in the BS. I don’t care how much tar, or rat poison for that matter, is in those things, there is a warning on the side of the box, the side of the box!! specifically stating that it will cause cancer and is harmful to your health.

Then people bring up the addictiveness of cigarettes. Ok, so maybe they’re addictive, but do people really believe that they are less addictive than they were in the 1920’s? How ’bout 1890? They’ve been addictive forever. The point is moot.

Back on topic. I don’t want to read through 45 “health” menu items before getting to the artery clogging, cholesterol filled, carb stuffed food that I so desperately crave. That’s my plea, take the health junk off the menu, people can get that stuff at home if they want it so bad.

I was listening to the new Audioslave album, Out of Exile and I have to admit that it sounds like they have gone soft on us.

None of the songs really stand out or make a real impression on me and overall the whole album is very timid. When I hear Audioslave I want to hear Tom Morello blaring out Rage Against the Machine style riffs, not soft rock garbage.

I am sure the album will grow on me but I am just taken back that they sissified their great sound.

My internship with Shell has been very interesting. I can tell that there is a lot for me to learn and I think the experience will be great. What I don’t enjoy are the insane commutes everyday. The weird thing is that every day the traffic is horrible in a different spot. Sometimes it is the 59 and Beltway 8 interchange, sometimes it’s the Belt and I-10, sometimes it is just in the middle of 59.

I’ve figured out why there’s traffic though, and the discovery is going to blow your mind. Hold on to your hats…

 

People are stupid

Yes, it’s just that simple. I have seen more idiotic driving techniques in the last 3 days than I have seen my entire life, and I’ve driven in Houston before. Driving in rush hour commutes is a whole different ball game.

Here’s a tip for anyone who lives in a major city with traffic problems, the markings on the road are there for a reason, the signs, surprisingly enough, are there for a reason. If you pay attention to them and try to adhere to them as much as possible things move a lot smoother.

Trust me.